Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Your sons or your Builder? (Is 62:5)
Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 10:25:53 +0100
At 02:02 08/07/02, Polycarp66 AT aol.com wrote:
I might quote the JPS TANAK translation
5 As a youth espouses a maiden,
Your sons shall espouse you;
And as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
So will your God rejoice over you.
As long as you are quoting the JPS translation, shouldn't you also perhaps
point out that it footnotes " your sons" with << Change of vocalization
yields He who rebuilds you.>>?
"Change of vocalization" is surely the key issue here -- which is why I
don't think citing Westcott and Hort on " a choice of two readings " ( as
another posting has it ) is particularly helpful; Tov's volume [ Tov,
Emmanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress,
1992. ( and 2nd revised edition 2001 ] is a lot more relevant.
Surely Liz's contention re puns has merit?
To read an unvocalized text in two different ( but coherent ) ways is
altogether different to the strained and tortured nature of too many puns
in English.
And I see support for Liz's remarks on the _verb_ involved:
<<< I think we have here a couple of puns: it's both "builders" and
"sons," and it's both "marry" and "take ownership of"/"possess".
>>>
in HAL:
1. to own, rule over (gods over a nation) Is 26:13, to prove oneself
master Jr 3:14 31:32; 2. to take possession of a woman as bride or wife,
to marry ( Neumann 231ff; deVaux 1:48ff) Dt 21:13 (Neumann 90) 24:1 Is 62:5
Mal 2:11;
[Koehler, L. (1999, c1994-1996). The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old
Testament. Volumes 1-4 combined in one electronic edition. (electronic
ed.). Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill.]
Regards
Maurice
Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros AT iol.ie